Toy Soldiers
by pikachufanno9
Summary: (Alternate Anime Universe) Serena's life changes dramatically after losing the Master Class Showcase. Based on the Martika song of the same name.


**I've had this idea in my head for a while. I heard the Martika song "Toy Soldiers" for the first time earlier this year and thought it would be a nice inspiration for a songfic.**

 **I don't own Pokemon or the song.**

After the Master Class Pokemon Showcase ended, Ash and friends set off for the next Gym. Only when everyone else was asleep at night, Serena left a note for her friends, and she left the group. She had thought long and hard about her decision, but she felt it was the right one.

The next day, Ash, Clemont and Bonnie woke up to find Serena gone, but with a hand-written note in the place where she normally would have slept.

"Dear friends,

My failure to win in the Master Class Showcase got me to thinking about the direction my life was going in. I'm sorry but I have to leave you guys. It was nice being with you all, but now I have a choice to make. Either continue being second-best to Aria or something else I don't know about. Don't bother trying to find me.

Serena."

Ash said, "what do we do?" Clemont said, "Serena must be taking this loss really hard. We have to do something. She needs our help."

Bonnie said, "I'm really scared for her. She might try and do something rash."

And do something rash she did. For three months Ash and his friends looked hard for Serena, but when it seemed they finally got a breakthrough, Serena packed up and moved to another place, fearing her friends would find her.

 _It wasn't my intention to mislead you_

 _It never should have been this way,_

 _What can I say?_

 _It's true I did extend the invitation,_

 _I never knew how long you'd stay,_

In these three months, Serena had spiraled downward into a cocaine addiction to deal with her problems, doing coke alongside some of the most famous names in Kalos.

She tried hard to forget all about the travels she had with Ash, Clemont and Bonnie. As long as she was snorting, she could.

"Pokemon Showcases, who needs them?" Serena said to one of the other coke addicts she was next to. "you were in Showcases?" he said. She replied, "yeah, but I didn't win in Master Class, so I quit and left my friends. One of them I think had a dream to win the Kalos League, but why should I care? He's never won a real league before."

If Ash had heard that, it certainly would have stung. He, Bonnie and Clemont put everything on hold so they could find Serena.

But every time they got close to finding her, she moved to another city. She had no intention of being found by anyone she didn't want to be found by. Her friends, police, nobody.

 _When you hear temptation call_

 _It's your heart that takes, takes the fall_

 _(Won't you come out and play with me?)_

Another 6 months passed, and Serena added heroin to her drug itinerary in this time. She had really committed herself to throwing her life away by now. There was no turning back.

All the while Ash and his friends continued looking for her. Ash said, "I should have reciprocated feelings back towards Serena, maybe she'd be in a better place if I had".

Clemont said, "it's not your fault Ash, not even you could have foreseen this coming."

Bonnie said, "I wonder if she fell in with the wrong crowd. It isn't like Serena not to want to talk to us. I'm really worried about her right now."

Serena was not going back to her old life no matter what. Her days of participating in Pokemon Showcases were over. She had made quite a lot of new friends in her new life, but they were not the kind of friends her mother would have wanted her to make.

In fact, it was at this point Ash decided to contact Serena's mother. "Grace, we haven't heard from Serena in 9 months, not since she lost the Master Class Pokemon Showcase. We're afraid she might be in with the wrong crowd".

Grace said, "I haven't heard from her either. Normally she would have contacted me regularly but not in these last 9 months. I remember being told about the Master Class Showcase, then nothing after that."

 _Step by step,_

 _Heart to heart_

 _Left, right, left_

 _We all fall down_

 _Like toy soldiers_

 _Bit by bit torn apart,_

 _We never win,_

 _But the battle wages on_

 _For toy soldiers_

9 more months passed, Serena was unaware of the damage the constant drug abuse was doing to her body. By this point she was running out of money for drugs. She had to beg on occasion for money, which sometimes worked, other times did not.

Nevertheless her life was out of control, and then one day, she overdosed on cocaine in an alley in Shalour City, falling unconscious.

Ash and friends were in Shalour City on a tip from someone, walking through alleys until Bonnie said, "look over here, it's Serena, and she looks really bad!"

Ash and Clemont rushed over to the scene with an unconscious Serena. It had been obvious she OD'ed. The three friends of hers took her to a hospital very quickly.

 _It's getting hard to wake up in the morning,_

 _My head is spinning constantly,_

 _How can it be?_

 _How could I be so blind to this addiction?_

 _If I don't stop, the next one's gonna be me_

Several hours later, Serena woke up. "wh-where am I?" she said. Clemont said, "you're in the Shalour City Hospital."

Ash said, "for the past 18 months you've been doing a lot of damage to your body through abuse of cocaine and heroin. You overdosed on the former a little while ago. The doctors barely saved your life. All this over losing a Pokemon Showcase? For shame Serena."

Serena said, "I was just overwhelmed at the time, and didn't know what I wanted anymore. I feel so ashamed of myself. The things I did, the things I said."

Bonnie said, "well we signed you up for rehab. You're gonna get better Serena. You'll be a whole new person. And when you're done, we can continue traveling like we did before this whole thing happened."

 _Only emptiness remains,_

 _It replaces all, all the pain._

 _(Won't you come out and play with me?)_

Serena went into rehab for the next 6 months. It seemed like forever for everyone involved, but they were all better people for it.

Serena learned a lot about herself in rehab. And also, about everyone else she was in rehab with. She pledged never to do any drugs ever again.

Ash, Clemont and Bonnie graciously awaited the return of Serena from rehab and the continuation of their journey. Ash wanted to get his final badge so he could get into the Kalos League.

Clemont also had feelings for Serena, but wondered if they would go unrequited because she had feelings for Ash. The two had a longer history together, but Clemont and Serena have had their moments together too.

 _Step by step,_

 _Heart to heart_

 _Left, right, left_

 _We all fall down_

 _Like toy soldiers_

 _Bit by bit torn apart,_

 _We never win,_

 _But the battle wages on_

 _For toy soldiers_

The day finally arrived when Serena finished up rehab. Ash, Clemont and Bonnie were at the facility to sign her release papers along with her mother.

Grace said, "Serena dear, I'm so glad you've come this far since admitting you had a problem. You will always be my shining star. I want you to remember that."

Ash and his friends left the rehab facility, and set off to continue their journey. Ash's eighth Kalos badge awaited him. And then the Kalos League.

 _Only emptiness remains_

 _It replaces all, all the pain._

 _(Won't you come out and play with me?)_

The next night when everyone was asleep, Serena woke up and woke Clemont up, so she could talk to him in private.

"Clemont, there's something I have to say" Serena said. "My feelings for Ash all this time, they were just to make you jealous. While me and Ash have had a longer friendship, it is you that has really been the apple of my eye. I realized that when I heard Ash had a girlfriend of his own already."

"Serena, I've loved you ever since I set eyes on you" Clemont said. "Nothing can ever change that. Bonnie has been trying real hard to set me up with a girl, but all this time she should have been setting us up together. Why don't we go back to sleep and we'll talk more tomorrow?"

Serena agreed, and the two went back to sleep.

 _Step by step,_

 _Heart to heart_

 _Left, right, left_

 _We all fall down_

 _Like toy soldiers_

 _Bit by bit torn apart,_

 _We never win,_

 _But the battle wages on_

 _For toy soldiers_

 _Step by step,_

 _Heart to heart_

 _Left, right, left_

 _We all fall down_

 _Like toy soldiers_

 _Bit by bit torn apart,_

 _We never win,_

 _But the battle wages on_

 _For toy soldiers_

All was right with Ash and his Kalos gang again, after 2 years apart. And Clemont and Serena finally realized their feelings for each other.

THE END.

 **Well, that was certainly interesting. I know Serena would never resort to such things for real, but it is an interesting scenario.**

 **Fun fact: the Martika song that inspired this songfic is based on true events – it was written about a friend of hers going through drug problems that were eventually conquered like in the story.**


End file.
